Ativan withdrawal....

I had been using serax 15mg 3x daily 4 years.  July I started having anxiety attacks during a move MD changed Rx to Ativan 0.5mg sub lingual 3x daily.  December RX changed to 0.5 mg 2x daily.  I was late getting to my MD due to holidays, and I ended having to cut to 0.5 mg every 2nd day this last week.  I have experienced extreme withdrawal symptoms the last week.  I felt dissociated from myself (and those were the good times)  depression, insomnia, no interest in myself.  I went to my  MD appointment today I could barely brush my hair and get ready.  I came back to the house and I took .25mg within 30 minutes I felt great.  I have a RX for 0.5 mg 2x daily although I think I have tapered down more the last week.  I am unsure how much to take now, and how I should go about getting off these pills completely.  I had some clarity the last month that I haven't had for years...I also quit smoking late November and I thought the symptoms I was experiencing was from champix.  I stopped champix 28th of December.  I realized today that I have a big problem and I need to deal with it.  I'm not sure how much to take now and how to taper off the pills.

Hi vivs,

 

I'm sorry you had to go through those withdrawals. Going from 1.5mg of Ativan to 1mg is a pretty steep jump. It sounds like it got worse when you had to go to .5mg every other day. That's quite a bit. Usually it's suggested to taper down no more than 10% of the last dose you were stable on--but how long were you taking the .5mg every other day? You could possibly just take .25mg x daily and see how you feel. You'll know fairly quickly if you can handle that large of a drop.

 

We're here to support you. Welcome to BenzoBuddies. :)

Hi Vivs welcome.

 

Have you considered going over to valium, its longer acting in the body so you would get fewer withdrawals, do you think your doctor would prescribe that for you?

 

xx

Thanks for responding,

I have been taking .5mg every second day for about 8 days....I thought I was going crazy, I have been in a complete fog, I couldn't sleep, I started taking melatonin on the nights I didn't take the ativan and it had barely any affect. I am not sure if my MD will switch me to valium... He is my new MD I moved this summer....Might be able to convince him to put me on serax...I feel kind of dumb because I wasn't able to admit this was withdrawal symptoms until I came home and took the half pill today.  I guess part of me didn't want to face it.  My husband was pretty sure it was the ativan..... I am going to try .25mg 2x daily.  I am glad I found this site, I have been reading the information.  I am also very nervous about the length of time it takes to get this medication out of my system....and the amount of withdrawal symptoms I may experience like the last week .

Thanks for responding,

I have been taking .5mg every second day for about 8 days....I thought I was going crazy, I have been in a complete fog, I couldn't sleep, I started taking melatonin on the nights I didn't take the ativan and it had barely any affect. I am not sure if my MD will switch me to valium... He is my new MD I moved this summer....Might be able to convince him to put me on serax...I feel kind of dumb because I wasn't able to admit this was withdrawal symptoms until I came home and took the half pill today.  I guess part of me didn't want to face it.  My husband was pretty sure it was the ativan..... I am going to try .25mg 2x daily.  I am glad I found this site, I have been reading the information.  I am also very nervous about the length of time it takes to get this medication out of my system....and the amount of withdrawal symptoms I may experience like the last week .

 

I wouldn't go back onto the serax it has a shorter half-life you need something longer,  I'd see what your doctor would say to valium or another longer acting benzo.

 

For now stick to the ativan 0.25mg 2 x daily for 2 weeks, you need to stabilise on a set dose.

 

xx